Fantasy Baseball Radar - Week 3

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In terms of fantasy baseball, things are starting to settle in place. By this point, we can see who the fakers are and who the true superstars are, well for the most part. Here are my fantasy baseball pickups for this upcoming week:

Want to see last week’s picks? Look here

Waiver Wire Adds

Trevor Larnach (4.3% rostered)

The name Trevor Larnach hasn’t circulated through many non-Minnesotan baseball circles as of late. The third-ranked Twins prospect struck out over 100 times last year and hit .243 in a fairly limited 300 plate appearances. He’s been quietly hitting above .300 with 3 dingers and nearly a 2.0 WAR in 29 games so far. With numbers like that, it’s a surprise that he’s only rostered in 1.7% of leagues. One of the many surprisingly productive players on this hot Twins team. Go pick him up.

J.P. Feyereisen (19.8% rostered)

Feyereisen has turned in 119 fantasy points this season but still stands at a 13.7% rostered rate. At first glance, you’d be confused as to how he’s slipped through the cracks, but his role as the 8th inning pitcher scares most people off. It’s hard to justify keeping a relief pitcher on your roster who isn’t closing it out. JP Feyereisen should be the rare exception. Feyereisen hasn’t let up a single run this year in 22 innings. Couple that with 25 K’s and a sub 0.5 WHIP, and you’ve got yourself a pretty strong case to be added to a fantasy baseball roster. Also, soon enough, I foresee him overtaking Brooks Raley. Raley has by no means played bad (sub 3.00 ERA with 3 saves) but Feyereisen has been undeniably better. Feyereisen is a no-doubt pick up here (killer ‘stache too).

J.P Feyereisen has now pitched 22 innings over 19 outings without allowing a run this season 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4P8ZobrK33

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 28, 2022

Jordan Lyles (5.1% rostered)

By no means has Lyles pitched the lights out for the Orioles but he’s doing the best with what he’s got. Outside of bad outings against the hot Red Sox and the Tigers, Lyles has done a solid job. A solid job is the farthest I’ll go, seeing as Lyles leads the league in hits allowed. His 4.26 ERA also speaks to the truth as the Orioles defense has surprisingly done a great job behind him (4.05 FIP). Additionally, outside of a freak 2019 season where he had an ERA under 3.00, Lyles has been a career 4.00+ ERA guy. His being in the league for a decade is no mistake though, Lyles is a steady pitcher. Pick him up if you’re pitcher-needy (Degrom, Baz, Flaherty, Lynn owners, I’m looking at you).

Fallers to trade for

Brandon Woodruff (98.9% rostered)

If Brandon Woodruff doesn’t have a no-trade in your league for being drafted stupidly high, this pick is for you. After an incredible end to last season, more was expected of Woodruff. After turning in several mediocre starts, Woodruff found his way onto the IL. His value has never been lower, and hopefully, it never gets lower. This is coming from a Brandon Woodruff fantasy owner so take this with a grain of salt, but Woodruff will be his usual dominant self soon enough. The top-10 pitcher hasn’t been able to go deep enough in games to allow himself to let up 4 runs a game. That was a problem with Woodruff in the early stages, but that appeared to change in last year’s season as he turned in 20 quality starts. Woodruff will turn it around so it’s time to buy low.

Carlos Rodón (98.5% rostered)

After starting out the season as frankly the best pitcher in the league, Rodon has shriveled. Rodon turned in a true stinker just three starts ago with 8 runs in only 3 innings. He’s had enough bad starts for his value to truly plummet. Rodon is not this bad though, and his dominant first few starts speak to that. It’s no fluke to have a sub 2.00 ERA with 53 Ks. Rodon can pull it together.

Robbie Ray (98.9% rostered)

With starting pitchers, you need to roster talented guys that can go deep into innings. With 60 IP and a 2021 Cy Young award, Robbie Ray is just that. Ray has turned in 8+ Ks in 6 of his 7 games, going 5+ innings in most of them. Despite this success, Ray isn’t really making fantasy waves and is sitting at a negative WAR. The 4.75 ERA is the main driver of Ray’s string of poor fantasy outings. What’s puzzling is that Ray is still lethal to batters, operating with an OOPB under .300. The culprit is “The One Bad Inning”, as most of Ray’s RA in his starts were in one inning. Both Ray and his manager have lamented over it. There’s definitely room for frustration, but Ray can become fantasy gold if he can get rid of his propensity for blowing it up in an inning.